The White Hat Guide to

Melbourne Parks and Gardens

Melbourne has superb parks and gardens - many of them European in
influence and planting. In fact Melbourne is reputed to have the largest
population of European Elm Trees in the world - including Europe. Any visit
to Melbourne that does not take in some of the parks is ignoring part of the
essence and lifestyle of Melbourne. City workers take for granted that
within a short walk (or tram ride) they can find a pleasant park where they
can have their lunch. Residents of the inner suburbs have access to bushland
within a few kilometres of the city where they can read a book and not
encounter a living soul (apart from the birds) all day. Residents of middle
and outer suburbs often take tree-lined streets and access to open parkland
for granted. All this for a city of 3 million people.

The city's botanic gardens, many of them established in the nineteenth
century in the European landscaped style, often featuring
monuments, sculptures and public art,
represent the formal side of Melbourne's parks and gardens. The queen of
them all, of course, is the Royal
Botanic Gardens- a world-class garden within a short distance of
the city centre. Other smaller formal gardens cluster around the city centre,
The Fitzroy and
Treasury Gardens, the Carlton Gardens
(sometimes referred to as the Exhibition Gardens) and the
Flagstaff Gardens are all within a
short walk from the city centre or accessible from the free City Circle
Tram.

To see how this European botanic tradition has helped shape part of the
character of Melbourne White Hat would also recommend you soak up some of
the atmosphere of the luxuriant tree-lined streets and private gardens of
the 'leafy suburbs'.

A different aspect of Melbourne & Victoria's parks and gardens can be
found in those using solely native and indigenous plantings. A major example
can be found in the Australian Garden and
Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne, and a smaller one (accessible by public
transport) is the Maranoa Gardens In
country Victoria, an important example is the native garden at Gol Gol. Some
newer parks such as Birrarung Marr feature
indigenous plantings while
some wonderful
examples of contemporary landscaping using indigenous plantings can be
found in surprising places such as new industrial estates.

Melbourne also boasts large amounts of parkland with open spaces, trees
and room for a wide range of activities. An excellent example close to the
city is Royal Park. Other
examples include Albert Park with its
artificial lake created from the original swampland. The nearby
Fawkner Park is a wonderful example of a
European style park that still welcomes sport and other non-passive
activities as part of its design. The various water authorities often
maintain such parks in catchment areas and around major waterways.

Some parks were created or are used for specialist purposes. The park
surrounding the McClelland and Heide galleries are used particularly (but
not solely) for sculpture. The 'Singing Gardens' in the
Dandenongs
are maintained because of the inspiration they provided to local poet
C.J.Dennis.

Many parks are large enough to contain several or all of the above
functions in their boundaries. Thus it is not uncommon to find a park that
contains a landscaped European style section, some open bushland, some open
parkland and playing fields as well as fulfilling a number of other
purposes. A White Hat favourite in the inner suburbs is the
Edinburgh Gardens. In country areas
this may include a camping ground, a stockyard, or the site used for
agricultural shows.

Many fine parks and gardens were established in the grounds of stately
homes and public or private institutions. Some are open to the general
public including the heritage gardens of the
Abbotsford Convent.
Others form part of heritage properties and can be viewed as part of entry
(a charge usually applies) to that property. These include,
Como,
Ripponlea and Werribee
Park Mansion. Some gardens such as those at
Parliament House
and Government House
are only accessible to the public on special tours or the occasional open
day. If you would like to be kept informed of such open days we suggest that
you subscribe to our free email newsletter.

A favourite recreation for the early European inhabitants of Melbourne
was to make their way to the top of Burial Hill (now
Flagstaff Gardens) and enjoy the view
of the 'Blue Lake'. Little did most of them know they were viewing a
parkland that had been created and managed by man. For many centuries the
local Aboriginal inhabitant had used 'firestick farming' to change the
environment and create a more 'harvestable' source of food in the form of
wildlife and edible platforms. Early accounts of this 'managed parkland'
paint a wonderful picture of wild beauty.

The small European settlement slowly grew in the period from 1835 to 1850
and, despite the grand city grid layed out by Robert Hoddle, had few of the
'civilized' aspects taken for granted in a European town when
Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe arrived in 1839. By the time he handed
over to Governor Hotham in 1854 there had been a gold rush, a major
population explosion and La Trobe had left Melbourne with an impressive
legacy of proclaimed 'public lands' around the newly growing city. The
concept of what was appropriate usage for public land in the 1850s,
particularly in a community heavily dependent on animals such as horses, was
somewhat different from that assumed in the early 21st century. Over time
public infrastructure such as hospitals, railways, schools, cemeteries and
sporting facilities were to occupy part of this public land. Some sections
(such as parts of Parkville) were sold off as private housing. However a
large amount of La Trobe's public land ended up as parks and gardens. His
plan did not particularly allow for the preservation of natural parks and bushland (the Blue Lake became the public utility of a railway yard) but
parts of Studley
Park still provide natural bushland within a short distance of the city
and part of Royal Park has
been redeveloped as native parkland.